Weather Report #34: On the victims of U.S. boat strikes, media complicity in climate change, ICE Watch, Disco Elysium, and the futility of journalism.

Hello, dear reader! Welcome to your Weather Report, a (usually) weekly column where I recommend some articles, a video game, a movie, and some music for readers to consume.

Here's what you're getting this week:

1. Read my articles about a CBP surveillance network along the coast of a popular boat town in Puerto Rico, and the impact of my reporting about FBI and Puerto Rico Police monitoring of activist groups.
2. Essays, articles, and columns about: the victims of U.S. boat strikes, media complicity in climate change, ICE Watch, Disco Elysium, and the futility of journalism.
3. An action-packed, kick ass anime film that grabs your attention from the first scene and doesn't let it go until the credits start rolling.
4. A retrofuturist survival horror game that will make you afraid of robots.
5. Three songs I've been digging lately.

If you're interested in seeing the recommendations — and supporting Heavy Weather's quest to keep tabs on collapse — you can become a paid subscriber by clicking the button below. Paid subscribers get access to the MEDIA LIST, a comprehensive list of every book, movie, and video game I've ever recommended. If you're already a paid subscriber, thank you very much! This newsletter would literally not be possible without your support.

What I Did This Week:

The first thing I do when I sit at my desk in the morning is check three different websites: MuckRock for those sweet FOIAs, PACER for those legal documents that are going to bankrupt me, and the Federal Procurement Data System to check on the most recent federal contracts that have been approved in Puerto Rico. I started checking the last one after I randomly stumbled on a contract with Customs and Border Protection to install surveillance cameras in several private marinas in the popular boating town of Fajardo. It took a bit of time because I had a lot on my plate, but I finally wrote about the contract and some privacy concerns that arise from having cameras in these places for The Latino Newsletter. I managed to photograph some of surveillance cameras that seem to be the ones described in the procurement records. I asked CBP "are these they?" but they didn't respond to that question by press time. Alas, so it goes. Just know, if you're ever in a private marina and some public locations in Fajardo, you're being watched.

CBP Installed Surveillance Network in Puerto Rico Marinas

United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has built a surveillance network along the coast of Fajardo that watches private marinas, according to procurement records reviewed by The Latino Newsletter.

The Latino NewsletterCarlos Berríos Polanco

A couple of weeks after my story about the FBI and the Puerto Rico Police talking about activists groups in Puerto Rico during a domestic terrorism meeting, the two groups mentioned by name in the documents + ~40 others held a press conference denouncing the law enforcement agencies' actions.

Over 40 Organizations Denounce FBI, Puerto Rico Police Surveillance of Activist Groups

Over 40 organizations signed an open letter published Monday by the pro-independence activist group Jornada Se Acabaron La Promesas (JSALP) denouncing law enforcement monitoring of the group after a story by The Latino Newsletter found the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had discussed the group with the Puerto Rico Police (PRP) during an August 2024 domestic terrorism meeting.

The Latino NewsletterCarlos Berríos Polanco

That's it for this week's free stuff. If you want to see the media recommendations and the link roundup, you can become a paid subscriber today.